Family Therapy focuses on relationships within the family and takes place with other family members present. Family therapy may be the primary focus of treatment, or could be in supplement to someone’s individual therapy.
In family therapy, the family is seen as a “whole” system, rather than just as the sum of its individual members. Like individual and group therapy, family therapy is used to approach a wide variety of therapeutic goals. Rather than viewing problems as owned and caused by a particular family member, also called an “identified patient,” Family Therapy helps to identify the ways that relationship and individual problems are caused and maintained by the family dynamics. For example, if a child is having academic and social problems, the focus will be on identifying the family patterns that have contributed to the child acting-out, rather than on working intrapsychically with the child alone.
There are a multitude of theorists who have contributed to the Family Therapy. Virginia Satir, Salvador Minuchin, Murray Bowen, and Milton Erickson, are just a few of many. If you are in Family Therapy, you may see a therapist who favors a theoretical modality such as Structural Therapy, Conjoint Therapy, and Strategic Therapy.
The Structural approaches looks at the patterns of communication, including the smaller “subsystems” within the family. For example, exploring how parents relate, how the siblings relate, in addition to the bigger picture of the whole family.
A therapist who favors Conjoint approaches will consider the various “roles” that each person plays in the family, in addition to the communication styles, both verbal and nonverbal, within it. How the family interacts is also explored.
Strategic Therapists approach family therapy with the belief that families often experience challenge at significant points in their life cycle, such as in times of major transition. The Strategic therapist often explores the “role” of the primary issue you want to change. In other words, the function that it plays, within the family itself. It is common for a therapist who uses Strategic approaches to offer direct, alternative behaviors to “do” in between sessions, to help shift the individual and family patterns.
Depending on your therapist’s approach, within Family Therapy, you may meet as whole family, but also have some supplemental individual appointments to address topics and issues that relate to your family’s therapy work.
You and your therapist will discuss the best course of action regarding how often you will meet. It is common to meet at least once a week, but it may be more or less than that. Like individual and group therapy, family therapy is offered in a wide range of settings including group practices, individual therapy offices, community agencies, hospitals, and schools.
